New to forum, Trike questions

[tukibandit]

Currently I have a 2013 Ultra Classic.. I love the bike, but I am 66, I can do 300 miles in a day, but I used to do 500+ in a day on my other bikes I owned.. The body is just a bit more worn out.. Also My knees make it unsteady sometimes when i am stopping.. I am afraid I will drop the bike at some point with the gf on the back... And she loves being on the back of the bike..

So I was going to downsize, but I love having the luggage space to travel.. Currently I am looking at trading it in for a Trike..

2013 is my sweet spot for Harley's.. So I am looking at those in the 2011-2013 years range..

My question.. What is the biggest thing to get used to going from 2 wheels to 3?

I appreciate any help or suggestions.. One more thing, on the right rear of the bike, I am assuming that is an parking brake handle?

Thanks

-tuk

 

[Jack Klarich]

Hi Ken, :welcome: to Trike Talk and your first post

I would say the biggest thing when transitioning to a trike is the steering

With a 2 wheeler you can lean into a turn

With a Trike you are using upper body strength to steer, this will come to you fairly easy as you rack up some miles

Practice in a parking lot will help



The parking brake is the lever on the RS, on newer models it is a foot lever on the LS

 

[rhino 2]

Currently I have a 2013 Ultra Classic.. I love the bike, but I am 66, I can do 300 miles in a day, but I used to do 500+ in a day on my other bikes I owned.. The body is just a bit more worn out.. Also My knees make it unsteady sometimes when i am stopping.. I am afraid I will drop the bike at some point with the gf on the back... And she loves being on the back of the bike..

So I was going to downsize, but I love having the luggage space to travel.. Currently I am looking at trading it in for a Trike..

2013 is my sweet spot for Harley's.. So I am looking at those in the 2011-2013 years range..

My question.. What is the biggest thing to get used to going from 2 wheels to 3?

I appreciate any help or suggestions.. One more thing, on the right rear of the bike, I am assuming that is an parking brake handle?

Thanks

-tuk

Welcome to Trike Talk..

Yes that handle is the parking brake;

As far as differences there’s no counter steering you have a wide rear end so be careful when pulling in to gas stations .. And if you think because it has three wheels it’s gonna ride better than a two wheeler you’ll be mistaken..

Because you can’t duck most potholes on three wheels like two wheelers so they actually ride rougher than a two wheeler ..Test ride one..The good things are do you will not fall over on three wheels and you don’t have to put your feet down at stops.. oh and you also lose a few miles per gallon versus a two wheeler..

 

[PosseRider]

Welcome,but if affordable. Go with a newer model. Much improved over the older trikes. I started with a 2016 ,liked it so much we put 47k on it in 3 seasons. Then we went to a 2020 & it is even better. Dont worry about luggage space. When we got the 1st trike, I removed everything from the 2 wheeler ,brought the trike home & everything put in ,had room to spare. Good luck on the search & let us know what you end up with. 78 next month & because of the 3, still going strong.

 

[Olddog]

Welcome aboard from Texas Ken! For what it’s worth; the 2014 and up models tri, share several features in common with many of the newer models. I’m 80 and transitioned to a Tri earlier this year and am very happy that I did. You’ve already had two very experienced and knowledgeable rider’s post before I did, and they gave great advice. This forum is a great source of Tri knowledge.

 

[tukibandit]

Hi Ken, :welcome: to Trike Talk and your first post

I would say the biggest thing when transitioning to a trike is the steering

With a 2 wheeler you can lean into a turn

With a Trike you are using upper body strength to steer, this will come to you fairly easy as you rack up some miles

Practice in a parking lot will help



The parking brake is the lever on the RS, on newer models it is a foot lever on the LS

Much appreciate the reply and the info..

 

[Uncle Fester]

Welcome from Greenfield, Indiana!!

 

[Longbeard71]

I have a 2011 it does not take long to get use to it. She does not have as much electronics as the new ones. Less to tear up how I look at it.

 

[Zammy]

Hello ken, welcome to the forums, very good advice so far. We transitioned to a trike at age 70 for many reasons and have had a lot of great miles since then.

 

[Notgrownup]

I bought a 14 Tri Glide last year and love it, I still have my 07 Electra Glide but I find myself gravitating to my trike way more. I would aim for a 14 or newer. Better infotainment, bigger motor. My opinion anyway.

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

Welcome to trike talk, I got my first trike in 2016 then traded up for a 2017 8 months later. As far as riding two up it's great for my wife and I, but I also have a older Road King for solo rides. It took me about 2500 miles to get really comfortable with the trike. Now as far as trading, if you like your 2013 then you could have a conversion put on it. My buddy had a CSC conversion put on his 99 and he loves it. As far as luggage goes, you can do like many and get a pull behind trailer, all my friends with trikes have them. If set up correctly and packed correctly you honestly cant feel it behind you. We did a 1400 mile ride this year down the Blue Ridge Parkway with zero issues pulling it. Good luck getting your trike, you won't regret it.

 

[LadyonaMission]

Currently I have a 2013 Ultra Classic.. I love the bike, but I am 66, I can do 300 miles in a day, but I used to do 500+ in a day on my other bikes I owned.. The body is just a bit more worn out.. Also My knees make it unsteady sometimes when i am stopping.. I am afraid I will drop the bike at some point with the gf on the back... And she loves being on the back of the bike..

So I was going to downsize, but I love having the luggage space to travel.. Currently I am looking at trading it in for a Trike..

2013 is my sweet spot for Harley's.. So I am looking at those in the 2011-2013 years range..

My question.. What is the biggest thing to get used to going from 2 wheels to 3?

I appreciate any help or suggestions.. One more thing, on the right rear of the bike, I am assuming that is an parking brake handle?

Thanks

-tuk

I suggest you test ride a few. Take your gf along before you make the final decision to be sure she is comfortable too.

 

[tukibandit]

Welcome to trike talk, I got my first trike in 2016 then traded up for a 2017 8 months later. As far as riding two up it's great for my wife and I, but I also have a older Road King for solo rides. It took me about 2500 miles to get really comfortable with the trike. Now as far as trading, if you like your 2013 then you could have a conversion put on it. My buddy had a CSC conversion put on his 99 and he loves it. As far as luggage goes, you can do like many and get a pull behind trailer, all my friends with trikes have them. If set up correctly and packed correctly you honestly cant feel it behind you. We did a 1400 mile ride this year down the Blue Ridge Parkway with zero issues pulling it. Good luck getting your trike, you won't regret it.

Appreciate the reply.. I just got a quote on a CSC conversion.. It ended up being 18.5k a bit cheaper because I really wasn't a big fan of the "ground effects" look.. but got pretty much everything else.. In the end it seems to be a better bargin than just buying a 2013 Trike with low miles, and I have mods to mine that I really like as well as the gf really loves the bike we have.. She is like 20 years younger so she would rather be 2-up on 2 wheels.. but at the same time she is not a fan of corners and the leaning the bike into them, as her Dad crashed twice with her on the back when she was in her teens.. so that always sits in the back of her mind..

Currently not going to put the trailer hitch on, might add it in if we both end up going for really long rides.. we can pack pretty light as we are both used to travels on bikes.. But I do appreciate the comment on pulling the trailer..

-tuk

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

Appreciate the reply.. I just got a quote on a CSC conversion.. It ended up being 18.5k a bit cheaper because I really wasn't a big fan of the "ground effects" look.. but got pretty much everything else.. In the end it seems to be a better bargin than just buying a 2013 Trike with low miles, and I have mods to mine that I really like as well as the gf really loves the bike we have.. She is like 20 years younger so she would rather be 2-up on 2 wheels.. but at the same time she is not a fan of corners and the leaning the bike into them, as her Dad crashed twice with her on the back when she was in her teens.. so that always sits in the back of her mind..

Currently not going to put the trailer hitch on, might add it in if we both end up going for really long rides.. we can pack pretty light as we are both used to travels on bikes.. But I do appreciate the comment on pulling the trailer..

-tuk

One more thing, talk to the shop doing the install about going 2 teeth smaller on the front belt pulley. This will help when taking off, the later model trikes have a different final drive ratio than two wheelers.

 

[cycle7447]

Appreciate the reply.. I just got a quote on a CSC conversion.. It ended up being 18.5k a bit cheaper because I really wasn't a big fan of the "ground effects" look.. but got pretty much everything else.. In the end it seems to be a better bargin than just buying a 2013 Trike with low miles, and I have mods to mine that I really like as well as the gf really loves the bike we have.. She is like 20 years younger so she would rather be 2-up on 2 wheels.. but at the same time she is not a fan of corners and the leaning the bike into them, as her Dad crashed twice with her on the back when she was in her teens.. so that always sits in the back of her mind..

Currently not going to put the trailer hitch on, might add it in if we both end up going for really long rides.. we can pack pretty light as we are both used to travels on bikes.. But I do appreciate the comment on pulling the trailer..

-tuk

Welcome to trike talk.

Here's my take. If your 2013 is in great shape and you like it, my suggestion would be to convert it.

I just put a CSC conversion on my 2021 Ultra and have to tell you that I absolutely love it. With the conversion, don't make any adjustments - just what CSC recommends. By all means, do get the suggested rake - mine is 11 degrees and you will not have any steering issues.

You mentioned that you did not want the running boards - please take a second look. I got them and ran across another guy at a rally in Iowa that did not get them - he said he wished he did.

Also, get the rear bumper - will make your bike look that much nicer. Whatever you do, enjoy

 

[ol' school]

Welcome to Trike Talk Ken!